Matthew J. Czajka, 98, of Newtown, Conn. is a World War II veteran and DDay survivor.
He reminisces about his experience at his home Tuesday, June 3, 2014. A framed map on his wall details his time in the war.
Friday is the 70th anniversary of DDay.

Matthew J. Czajka, 98, of Newtown, Conn. is a World War II veteran and DDay survivor.
He is wearing his army uniform on the day of his marriage to Winifred Gordon during the war.
He reminisces about his experience at his home Tuesday, June 3, 2014.
Friday is the 70th anniversary of DDay.

Matthew J. Czajka, 98, of Newtown, Conn. is a World War II veteran and DDay survivor.
Known as a man with an easy smile, he reminisces about his experience at his home Tuesday, June 3, 2014.
Friday is the 70th anniversary of DDay.

Matthew J. Czajka, 98, of Newtown, Conn. is a World War II veteran and DDay survivor. He reminisces about his experience at his home Tuesday, June 3, 2014. A framed map on his wall details his time in the war. Friday is the 70th anniversary of DDay.

Matthew J. Czajka, 98, of Newtown, Conn. is a World War II veteran and DDay survivor.
He is wearing his Army uniform in the wedding portrait he holds in his hands, taken on the day he married Winifred Gordon, during the war years.
Czajka reminisces about his experience at his home Tuesday, June 3, 2014.
Friday is the 70th anniversary of DDay.

World War II veteran Richard H. Hall, 89, of Bethel, talks about his WWII experience for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the American Legion Hall, on Triangle Street, in Danbury, Conn.

Photo: H John Voorhees III

World War II veteran Richard H. Hall, 89, of Bethel, talks about...

Image 9 of 20

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his WWII experience for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the American Legion Hall, on Triangle Street, in Danbury, Conn.

Photo: H John Voorhees III

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his...

Image 10 of 20

World War II veteran Richard H. Hall, 89, of Bethel, talks about his WWII experience for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the American Legion Hall, on Triangle Street, in Danbury, Conn.

Photo: H John Voorhees III

World War II veteran Richard H. Hall, 89, of Bethel, talks about...

Image 11 of 20

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his WWII experience for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the American Legion Hall, on Triangle Street, in Danbury, Conn.

Photo: H John Voorhees III

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his...

Image 12 of 20

World War II veteran Richard H. Hall, 89, of Bethel, and his wife Frances L. Hall, 88, talk about his WWII experience for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the American Legion Hall, on Triangle Street, in Danbury, Conn.

Photo: H John Voorhees III

World War II veteran Richard H. Hall, 89, of Bethel, and his wife...

Image 13 of 20

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his WWII experience for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the American Legion Hall, on Triangle Street, in Danbury, Conn.

Photo: H John Voorhees III

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his...

Image 14 of 20

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his WWII experience for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the American Legion Hall, on Triangle Street, in Danbury, Conn.

Photo: H John Voorhees III

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his...

Image 15 of 20

World War II veteran Richard H. Hall, 89, of Bethel, talks about his WWII experience for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the American Legion Hall, on Triangle Street, in Danbury, Conn.

Photo: H John Voorhees III

World War II veteran Richard H. Hall, 89, of Bethel, talks about...

Image 16 of 20

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his WWII experience for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the American Legion Hall, on Triangle Street, in Danbury, Conn.

Photo: H John Voorhees III

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his...

Image 17 of 20

World War II veteran Richard H. Hall, 89, of Bethel, talks about his WWII experience for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the American Legion Hall, on Triangle Street, in Danbury, Conn.

Photo: H John Voorhees III

World War II veteran Richard H. Hall, 89, of Bethel, talks about...

Image 18 of 20

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his WWII experience for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the American Legion Hall, on Triangle Street, in Danbury, Conn.

Photo: H John Voorhees III

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his...

Image 19 of 20

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his WWII experience for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the American Legion Hall, on Triangle Street, in Danbury, Conn.

Photo: H John Voorhees III

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his...

Image 20 of 20

World War II veteran John Esposito, 89 of Danbury, talks about his WWII experience for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, at the American Legion Hall, on Triangle Street, in Danbury, Conn.

On June 6, 1944, while the American army struggled to widen its toehold on Omaha Beach, Matthew Czajka waited to go ashore in the second wave of the largest amphibious invasion in history.

"We were scared," he admitted. "We said our prayers."

When Czajka's artillery unit hit the beach the next day, the beachhead -- by far the bloodiest in the Normandy invasion -- was far from secure. His commanding officer later reported going into a maelstrom of "concentrated artillery, mortar and small arms fire."

What Czajka remembers most vividly is the sight of a German machine gun nest.

"I thought, `This is it,' that I was a goner," he said. "I was no brave alley cat."

Eventually, though, Czajka got safely ashore, and his unit, the 110th AAA Gun Battalion, became one of the more celebrated outfits during the long campaign that followed.

The 110th was credited with shooting down the first German plane during the invasion, and members of its reconnaissance units were among the first to enter Paris a few months later. By the end of the war, after fighting in northern France, the Battle of the Bulge and the Rhineland, the battalion had taken out 65 German planes, 11 tanks and 80 ground vehicles.

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But Czajka, 98, who now lives in Newtown, remembers the fear and fatigue most of all.

While the 110th was in the Belgian town of Spa, he said, locals gave them a type of feather blanket to use as they slept in their foxholes. The warmth of those blankets, combined with intense exhaustion, helped the soldiers sleep soundly through a noisy night.

Waking up, they found fresh mortar craters a few feet from their foxholes.

"Maybe we were just too scared to wake up," he said.

Czajka's main job in the Army was as a dispatcher in charge of some 50 trucks and drivers, his main objective to keep the unit equipped with supplies including all-important ammunition.

The Americans not only had more powerful weapons, but they were better supplied, and enemy ranks often seemed torn by dissension.

"They didn't work together," Czajka said. "We loved that."

Eventually the Allies pushed across the Rhine, and enemy resistance began to crumble.

"I kind of felt sorry for them," he said. "They were good fighters, though."

By the time the war ended in May 1945, Czajka's unit had advanced deep into Germany. News of the surrender was greeted with elation.

"We were very happy," he said. "We were lucky to be alive."

Among the souvenirs Czajka brought home was a rock from the fireplace in one of Hitler's hideouts.

A hatter in Danbury before being drafted, Cjazka returned to an industry in decline.

"It was slow," he said. "There was no future in it."

He and his wife, Winnie, moved to Miami, where he worked as a valet parker and security guard. A big sports fan, he was able to watch Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus play in their primes, once saw famed baseball player Ted Williams and saw all the home games in the Miami Dolphins' undefeated season in 1972.